Karachi Biennale

2016 – 2025

CEO and Managing Trustee KB: Niilofur Farrukh

Karachi Biennale

2016 – 2025

CEO and Managing Trustee KB: Niilofur Farrukh

The Karachi Biennale (KB) is the flagship project of the Karachi Biennale Trust that was established in 2016 and the same year Niilofur Farrukh was appointed as its Founding Managing Trustee and CEO of Karachi Biennale.
At the core of each Karachi
Biennale have been art, artists and the people of Karachi that are connected through themes, experimental exploration of genres and mediums, and a dialogue with the history and built heritage of Karachi. The educational programming with its outreach in art academies, schools and colleges has laid the foundation for public art engagement.
Its Critical Knowledge Lab investigates the epistemic linkages between art history, societal transformations, emerging discourses by inviting scholars, researchers, artists, thinkers and activists to share ideas and experiences. The emphasis is interdisciplinarity so art and other creative disciplines can find new synergies.

KB24

catalogue preface

Jis khait say daikan ko mayasser nahin rozi Us khait kay har khosha-e-gandum ko jala do A field which gives no sustenance to the tiller Set every grain of wheat in that field afire —Allama Iqbal, circa 1935 The acclaimed poet called for food justice

and a similar call reverberated through the fourth Karachi Biennale in October/November 2024. Artists from four continents responded to the theme Rizq | Risk,

KB22

catalogue preface

Tu shaheen hai basera kar paharoon ki chatanon par Be the eagle that inhabits the tallest of peaks —Allama Iqbal

Ambition and hope underpinned the third iteration of Karachi Biennale at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic had left behind a changed world. While we were still getting used to the ‘new normal’ and trying to hold on to the familiar, life as we had known it, slowly faded into memory.

KB19

catalogue preface

As I write this message, the world is facing a massive lockdown to combat Coronavirus; the times are uncertain but hope still reaches out through signs, like the healing of the ozone layer in response to the decreased carbon footprint and the selflessness of the medical and emergency workers. Karachi was the first city in Pakistan to be locked down after the first cases surfaced. Our city is a veteran of all kinds of crises; as someone who has called it home since birth,

KB17

catalogue preface

Sitaron say agay jehan aur bhi hain Abhi Ishaq kay imtehan aur bhi hain Many new worlds lie beyond the stars And many more challenges for the passionate and the spirited —Allama Iqbal

Artists with insight and passion have always re-imagined the world to inspire fresh beginnings with hope. Sadequain communicated through public murals,